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    4. Correct robots.txt for WordPress

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    Correct robots.txt for WordPress

    On-Page Optimization
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    • AslanBarselinov
      AslanBarselinov last edited by

      Hi. So I recently launched a website on WordPress (1 main page and 5 internal pages). The main page got indexed right off the bat, while other pages seem to be blocked by robots.txt. Would you please look at my robots file and tell me what‘s wrong?

      I wanted to block the contact page, plugin elements, users’ comments (I got a discussion space on every page of my website) and website search section (to prevent duplicate pages from appearing in google search results). Looks like one of the lines is blocking every page after ”/“ from indexing, even though everything seems right.

      Thank you so much.

      FzSQkqB.jpg

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • jasongmcmahon
        jasongmcmahon last edited by

        Me too, can you upload or screenshot the actual file that you are using

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • AslanBarselinov
          AslanBarselinov last edited by

          I have edited it down to

          User-Agent: *
          
          Allow: /wp-content/uploads/
          Disallow: /wp-content/plugins/
          Disallow: /wp-admin/
          Disallow: /contact/
          Disallow: /refer/
          
          It didn’t help. I get a “Blocked by robots.txt” message after submitting the URL for indexing in google webmaster tools. I’m really puzzled.
          
          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • jasongmcmahon
            jasongmcmahon last edited by

            Hi, in addition to the answer that effectdigital gave; another option,optimised for WordPress:

            User-Agent: *
            Allow: /wp-content/uploads/
            Disallow: /wp-content/plugins/
            Disallow: /wp-admin/
            Disallow: /readme.html
            Disallow: /refer/

            Sitemap: http://www.example.com/post-sitemap.xml
            Sitemap: http://www.example.com/page-sitemap.xml

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • effectdigital
              effectdigital last edited by

              Just seems overly complex and like there's way more in there than there needs to be

              I'd go with something that 'just' does what you have stated that you want to achieve, and nothing else

              User-Agent: *

              Disallow: /wp-content/plugins/

              Disallow: /comments

              Disallow: /*?s=

              Disallow: /*&s=

              Disallow: /search


              See if that helps

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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